Keepsake Quilting has a consignment shop; 30% is added to the amount you want to receive. There seems to be a lot of variability in what people are asking. Has anyone placed quilts with KQ and would you share your experience?

yeap
 

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I agree.

I was refering to a practice done centuries ago-not in the 21st century. That is how my ancestors lived when they worked at home. Or perhaps some of them wandered from place to place selling their wares, I will never know as the eldest ones from the old country are gone now. Now to the present (or within the past 30 or so years). Starting in the 1980s, I witnessed the loss of the sewing factories (that is where the fashion industry and the big players is based, not in homes) surrounding the inner city and older suburbs of Los Angeles close shop and move away. The skilled base of sewers, pattern makers, and cutters are mostly forgotten, dead, or imported immigrant labor now. That is where the friends, relatives, neighbors, and aquaintences that I grew up with are at present. They were all skilled with the needle and can switch from home sewing to industrial sewing-different sewing styles-in a flash. They did what is known as "piecework" and generated their living from that. Not from one or two art quilts or similar one off pieces. That is where the money is. I too did the same sort of work all the while putting myself through college-until the last major player closed shop in my area.

What bitterness? I was simply illustrating the massive changes creating the shifting from hand made products to imported cheaper than ever possible Wallly World specials. The home based cottage industry of one to a few cannot compete with this exploitative using- third-world-vastly-underpaid workers business model until a massive shift back occurs. I don't live in a tiny backwater community or in some third world country. I live where I live (super high cost of living) and so does my sewing and other skills and post graduate education does too. By the way, besides the needle arts (considered a side job in getting through school) my major in college was Sociology trained for working in think tank corporations like Rand. I studied these trends in college and followed it post graduate school. I cannot help my professional side peeking out from my mild sewing/quilting side from time to time.

I do not wish to discourage creativity or selling handmade products. I simply wish to share what I have been observing, even experiencing, the changes of not only the fashion industry, but the same people that are potential customers of these same handmade products. I don't expect to get rich assuming I find a buyer for any of the quilts I make.

Actually to live a more fuller life, I now only sew for the local animal shelter. Not dealing with people who constantly try to wear me down with their haggling for undercutting prices. Some examples:

Most people who don't quilt don't realize the expense and number of hours that go into making a quilt. Getting people to pay what a quilt is worth is very difficult.

I have a home-based machine embroidery business. People think you shouldn't charge much because all you do is push a button and the machine does all the work. They don't know how much work goes into digitizing the design and they don't consider the cost of stabilizer, thread and machine maintenance, not to mention the initial cost of the machine. Some of the designs have over 1000,000 stitches and take 2 hours or more to stitch out, but they think you really don't do anything but push a button. DH retired about 2 years ago and started helping with the business. He does all the caps as well as some other items. After 16 years in business, we are talking about closing it down. It just isn't worth it any more.

Good luck if you decide to sell your quilts.

Norma

I agree with your comment about charitable donations. A couple of years ago we donated 2 elaborately embroidered shirts for a silent auction for a fundraiser that was held at our church. The shirts sold for $25 each---not even enough to cover the cost of the shirts, much less the hours of work (about 3 1/2 hrs. per shirt) embroidering them. I just make monetary donations now. It is easier.

I sold all the rag quilts I made until I was tired of making them. I made them from homespun fabric which is not expensive and rags the best. I kept each quilt in the same color family and they sold fast by word of mouth. I sold a double bed size for $75. I bought the fabric by the bolt at a fabric warehouse. I think it was about $1.50 yard if bought on the bolt. It was nice homespun not the really thin stuff. I could make one in a day and I used the rag die for the Go. My DD took one I made her to her job and came home with 18 prepaid orders in that one day. I would never try to sale quilts that took me more then a day to make and get what the quilt was worth. I didn't have a deadline for the quilts. I made about four a week. All I had to do was sew the blocks, the die cut the fabric and batting. I made the Santa and Christmas rag quilt throws and sold them for $100. I got tired of making these quilts and stopped. I had a fabric budget to last a very long time after that. The key is to find an easy pattern that catches the eye, the right tools to make the quilt not tedious, and buy fabric in bulk and get the product seen at workplaces of busy working women. Hospital staff is a great place.

I thought some of my 69,000 stitches with 36 thread changes were big. I would see one of those you are talking about nstitches4u

if there were not people making good money selling their quilts there would not be as large a 'quilting world' out there thriving- i have to totally agree with ghostrider's comments above-
maybe it depends on how/where you were brought up- the experiences you had- in my world- being raised by a very creative single mother- with 6 kids to keep in shoes- we learned that if you are happy with what you are doing- you can make a living at it---it takes setting goals- keeping your goals in focus & working toward them- my mom is an artist--- as in painting-
we were raised to make gifts, learn crafty things- learn to sew- i was making my brother's 3-piece suits by the time i was 14---my kids never would have had the cute -original design clothes they had if i hadn't learned to sew-
and i have never had a problem selling a quilt- and getting a 'pretty penny' for it! in fact i have gone through times when i've said----enough----no-i'm taking a break from it for a bit!
my sister worked in a shop for a few years- she took a quilt into work one night & showed it off---i bet i made 40 quilts for her co-workers before i said- this is becoming too much like work- no more orders for a while- i want to make something---i want to make- for a while!
i prefer to make quilts- show them off- people say----oh i want that one & they pay what i ask for it-
i like it better than taking orders & (creating on demand) i work at keeping it a hobby-fun- not a job- but i know if something happened to my (real job) i could fall back on it for a time if i wanted to-
especially with the researgence (of cottage industries) i don't know where hobobicycle is from- - i do agree many factories have shut down- but that just opens other doors- there are plenty of people more than willing to pay what a quilt is worth-
sure there are people who think they should only pay what walmart may charge- but they are the same people who would never pay alot for their clothes, shoes, ect---it takes all kinds to make the world go around- without them walmart would go out of business- but they are not the majority who dictate the way of all commerce.
for every quilt i make as a gift i have 2-5 requests to sell it-sometimes more- sometimes i give in & do sell it- & make a new gift one- those i charge alot for- trying to discourage the sale-